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TROPICAL HEAT WAVE

Delicious acai smoothie with toppings in bowls on table, flat lay

Showcase tropical produce ingredients all summer long.

  • SALSAS: Skip the tomato-based salsas and offer sweet and spicy versions made with pineapple, gold kiwifruits, kumquats, avocados, and honeydew melons—all accented with fiery chiles, fresh lime juice, and plenty of cilantro.
  • BRUNCH: Pile breakfast favorites like pancakes, waffles, warm cereals, and French toast with caramelized bananas, mashed blackberries, and finely diced cantaloupe melons.
  • DRINK: Give patrons a vacation in a glass with exotic flavors and textures, including passion fruit pulp, lychees, baby kiwifruit, horned melons, and watermelon purée.
  • KEBAB: Infuse tropical flavors into skewered meats and vegetables through citrus, coconut milk, or cilantro marinades. Serve alongside fruity sauces made with mangoes, raspberries, and mamey sapotes.
  • BOWL: Whether the base is acai, sweet rice, or oatmeal, toppers like blueberries, dragon fruit, papaya, and guava add texture, color, and nutrients.
  • DESSERTS: Think coconut custards, pandan crêpes, and piña colada cheesecakes topped or filled with vibrant strawberries, passion fruit, star fruits, and pink grapefruits.

Diners are increasingly hyper-focused on high-protein and plant-based foods. Alongside all of the new-fangled, lab-based, cell-cultured options out there is the humble bean. A staple food for millenia, beans are being re-examined as a healthy, versatile ingredient worthy of menu inclusion.

  • Retro and heirloom recipes—like Southern succotash, French cassoulet, and Cajun red beans and rice—fit the bill for those in search of authenticity.
  • Most world cuisines incorporate some type of bean in their classic dishes. Think feijoada in Brazil, black beans and rice with plantains in Puerto Rico, and garbanzo beans in Israel. Modern interpretations of these recipes are packed with produce and herbs.
  • The creamy texture of mung beans is proving an ideal substitute for those that are eliminating soy from their diets.